


Can't Help But Care

by natacup82



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming RPF
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-12 16:29:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12963564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natacup82/pseuds/natacup82
Summary: In the run-up to filmingSpider-Man 2, the Marvel PR folks have a brilliant idea. Zendaya is less than impressed.





	Can't Help But Care

**Author's Note:**

  * For [paperclipbitch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperclipbitch/gifts).



> 1\. In this her manager is some random instead of her dad.  
> 2\. Thanks to A for the beta, S for enthusiastically supporting the idea and convincing me to offer this fandom for yuletide and M for passing on the word count hell that turned a 3-4K idea into this, you’re all the best *and worst, but mainly best.

Zendaya gets a call from her manager a month before she’s due to start filming on _Spider-Man 2: Sadie Hawkins Dance_. She hasn’t seen a script yet because those Marvel people are ridiculous, and she’s hoping that maybe this is the call letting her know when she can view it. 

“Hey, Margie, what’s up?” Zendaya says, accepting the call and putting it on speaker as she tries to make a dent in the giant pile of laundry on her bed. 

“Zendaya, darling!” Margie says, voice going high with fake cheer. 

Zendaya groans. “Oh god, what? You always do that fake thing when you have bad news.”

“It’s not _exactly_ bad news...”

“So what is it _exactly_?” Zendaya asks, pausing. “Just pull the band-aid off, you know I hate beating around the bush.” She starts running through recent auditions in her head, trying to figure out which could have gone so badly that Margie would be calling her like this. 

Margie sighs. “I want you to keep an open mind, that’s all I’m asking.”

“You haven’t actually asked me anything, Margie, just tell me.”

“Okay,” Margie says, sighing again. “The PR folks from Marvel want to bring you and Tom in for a meeting in the run-up to shooting. You have the table read soon, so it’ll be in the week before that.”

Zendaya frowns. “Alright. Still not seeing what exactly the problem is here.”

“Right,” Margie says. There’s the sound of papers shuffling in the background, like she’s put herself on speaker and picked something up to try to distract Zendaya from whatever she’s about to say. 

“Spit it out,” Zendaya says. Then she adds, “please,” remembering her manners after the fact.

“Do you remember the press tour for Homecoming?”

Zendaya nods to herself, trying and failing to fold a fitted sheet. “Yes. That was actually a pretty fun press tour. If they need us to go back on Lip Sync Battle, I’m totally in.”

“I’m sure they will,” Margie says, voice brightening. “That was incredibly well-received. But no, it’s more than that. Do you remember that rumor that started that you and Tom were dating?”

Zendaya thinks for a moment and frowns, not liking where the conversation is going. “Yes, why?”

“And you remember the reaction to that _People_ report that you guys had confirmed you were dating?”

“Margie,” Zendaya says, biting back a groan. “Please tell me they don’t want what I think they want.”

Margie sighs. “Listen, you don’t have to say yes, but they will be asking for it.”

“Didn’t they already do this with the last series? Nobody bought it when they did this with Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield, Marg,” Zendaya says, not even trying to suppress a sigh. 

“Those two actually dated, babe.”

“Really? Damn.”

Margie laughs. “Yeah, I think the PR folks back then wanted them to pretend to not date because it was going over so badly. But this is different.”

“How is this different? People might react the same way.”

“You two are much cuter,” Margie says. “Just give it some thought before the meeting. I’m sending you the details now.”

Zendaya glares at her phone. “I thought you didn’t have any details yet.”

“Yeah, well, I thought this call was going to go much worse than it has,” Margie says. “Anyway, gotta go. Love you, mean it.” And then she ends the call. 

Zendaya looks down at her phone, glaring as it buzzes with a new email. “Ugh, shit.”

*  
Zendaya finishes up her laundry and wanders the house for a while, muttering. She runs through the idea in her head over and over again, trying to craft an argument against it. It’s not the worst idea she’s ever heard from the folks at Marvel, but it’s such a dumb lie. 

After a while of wandering and arguing with herself, she digs out her phone from the pile of folded laundry and calls Tom. She checks the time after the fact, not sure if he’s stateside or back home, but it doesn’t seem like it’s too late either way. 

“Hello,” Tom says picking up after a few rings. 

“Hello, Thomas,” Zendaya says, flopping down across her bed on her back. 

“You know my gran is the only one who calls me that,” Tom says with a laugh. “It’s always strange when you do it.”

“That’s why I’ll never stop. Gotta keep you on your toes,” Zendaya says. “So do you have time to talk, or should I try to time my next call for 3 am your time?”

Tom laughs again. “I’m blissfully free at the moment. What’s up? We haven’t talked in awhile.”

“It has been a while, hasn’t it?” Zendaya asks, sketching random patterns in the air with her finger. “So, Thomas, what have you been up to? How’s life?”

“Life has been good, got a film in post-production just in time to get ready to come back to the States to shoot. How about you? I’ve seen a bunch of trailers for your next project over the last few weeks.”

Zendaya laughs. “Oh yeah? Those are out early, I’ve got a few months before that press tour, at least. I’m glad you’ve been busy. Maybe you haven’t had time to take any weird calls from _your_ manager.”

“That doesn’t sound ominous at all,” Tom says, with a laugh. “I haven’t talked to my manager today, and I don’t have any missed calls.”

“Hmm,” Zendaya says, thinking. It almost seems a shame to not let him walk into the meeting with the Marvel people cold. It would be funny, at least. But then she thinks about how she’d feel to be ambushed like that, with their not-quite-history. “So, you’re probably going to get a call from your manager sometime soon.”

“Okay,” Tom says, drawing the word out slowly. “That’s not really unusual. I’m due in LA in a little over a week, so I’d imagine we’d have things to confirm.”

“Right, but she also might want to confirm that Marvel wants us to date.”

“Excuse me?” Tom says, voice going a bit high.

“The Marvel PR people think that we should capitalize on all the goodwill fans have toward us and that we should,” Zendaya stops to make air quotes that only she can see, “start dating during production and continue it through the press tour.”

Tom is silent for a moment, and Zendaya can almost hear him opening and closing his mouth trying to think of a response. 

“I wasn’t aware studios really did that still.”

“I don’t know if they do it often,” Zendaya says. “Did you know that Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield really dated? That wasn’t even a PR thing.”

Zendaya can almost hear Tom frowning over the phone. “Was I meant to think that was a PR thing?” Tom asks, sounding genuinely confused. 

“You are so innocent to the ways of Hollywood.”

Tom makes an indignant, squawking sound. “I’m not innocent, I just think it’s a little silly to have actors pretend to date for publicity.” 

“Just a precious, tiny newborn baby,” Zendaya says, trying not to laugh. 

“I’ll hang up on you,” Tom says. “I’ll do it.”

“Sure,” Zendaya says. “Listen, we need to be united on this whole PR thing. What do you think?”

“I don’t know. What if they have a good argument for it?” Tom says. “Plus you know they’ll have us doing the majority of the press together, it could help us get in front of the rumors.”

Zendaya frowns. “I didn’t think those rumors bothered you much.”

“They didn’t,” Tom says. “ I’m not going to complain if people think a beautiful girl is my girlfriend.”

“Smooth.”

Tom laughs. “I have my moments.”

“Sometimes,” Zendaya says. “Fine, I guess we can hear them out. But if it’s dumb, you’re buying me Pinkberry.”

“Deal. I guess it’s a date? Or is it a fake date? I can’t really tell.”

“I’m hanging up now,” Zendaya says with a laugh. “Guess I’ll see you in a week when we head into battle.” And then she hangs up and laughs again at the ridiculousness that is her life. 

*  
A week later Zendaya is sitting in a conference room with Tom and both of their managers as the Marvel PR people make their big pitch. It’s as ridiculous as she expected, complete with a fifty-slide PowerPoint about why this would be good for both the movie and their careers. They’re gearing up for something when Zendaya cuts in to ask a question. 

“So has this ever worked? Can you provide some real-world, still-alive examples?” Zendaya asks, ignoring the look her manager throws her as she interrupts. 

The two PR people running the presentation pause and look at each other, confused. “Well,” the guy whose name Zendaya has already forgotten says. 

“Um,” the girl Kathy or Kristy, definitely something with a K, says. “Legally, we can’t really discuss any other situations with other actors.”

“Is that because their contracts prohibit it or because they don’t exist?” Tom asks with a frown.

Zendaya points at him, nods and says, “Right. That, why can’t we get some evidence of the effectiveness of this plan?”

“Listen,” the guy says, sounding frustrated. “Obviously, we really can’t reference real people. It would be a breach of contract, and it would absolutely get out.”

Tom laughs. “We’re trustworthy,” Tom says. “We wouldn’t leak anything.”

“Seriously,” Zendaya says, throwing an arm over Tom’s shoulder and flashing her most innocent face. “Would these faces leak information? Of course not.”

Kristy or Kathy, Zendaya is seriously going to kick herself for not remembering the woman’s name, laughs. A genuine laugh that isn’t really in line with any of the insincere things they’ve said since they all sat down to listen to this spiel. “And we appreciate that, truly. But that’s why we think this would work well. You’re both incredibly likable, and people like you together.”

“Exactly,” the guy says. “People like you both, and they want to see you happy together. And obviously, we wouldn’t want you doing anything that would make you uncomfortable.”

“Okay, so what exactly do you want them to do?” Margie asks. She looks a little annoyed at needing to ask, but it’s partly her fault they’re even in this situation, so Zendaya doesn’t have any sympathy for her. 

The guy smiles and reaches for the remote for the projection to advance the PowerPoint, and Zendaya has to hide a groan. She doesn’t quite manage, as she catches Tom trying to cover a laugh with a cough. She rolls her eyes at him, and he shrugs.

“I’m glad you asked,” the guy says, advancing the slides. “We’ve walked through a few items that shouldn’t disrupt your lives.”

He advances the slide again to a picture of a couple walking a dog while drinking coffee, and Kathy, it’s definitely Kathy, jumps in. “What we really want is for you to just continue hanging out as any friends would. Get coffee, go for walks-”

“Demand a rematch on Lip Sync Battle via Instagram?” Zendaya adds, throwing a smirk at Tom. 

“Are you really that eager to get destroyed again?”

“It was beginner's luck, I’ll totally make you cry next time.”

“Yes, yes this is exactly what we’re looking for,” Kathy says. “Just continue flirting where people can see you, and request privacy when anyone brings it up.”

“We don’t flirt,” Zendaya and Tom say at the same time, making faces at each other when they notice. “We don’t,” Zendaya says. “Friends joke around.”

“Sure, fine,” the guy says. “So what do you think? This will be great press for the film, and it will keep both of your names fresh in the minds of the public.”

Tom looks at her and raises an eyebrow. Zendaya looks back and shrugs. She knows they probably look ridiculous to everyone else, but it’s a shorthand that works for them. 

“I think we’re in,” Zendaya says. At Tom’s nod, she adds, “But we’re going to need to review the contract terms with our lawyers before we perform any official,” she pauses to make finger quotes, “couple activities.” 

“Awesome,” Kathy says. “We’ll get the contracts over to your teams this afternoon. You won’t regret this.”

*  
“I’m already starting to regret this,” Zendaya says, flopping back onto her couch. “Why did I let you talk me into this?”

Tom scoffs from his spot at the other end of the couch. “How exactly did I talk you into this?”

“You did that thing with your eyebrow! What am I supposed to do in the face of that, say no?” Zendaya says, letting her voice go high for the drama. 

They’d had a post-meeting lunch debrief, separately, with their managers, and agreed to meet back up at Zendaya’s house after. Her head's still spinning a little with all of the details they need to keep straight and all of the details they haven’t quite worked out yet. 

“My eyebrow thing has never convinced you to do anything, ever,” Tom says. “The last time I tried to get you to do something, you made fun of me for three days.”

Zendaya shrugs, but it loses some effect since she’s lying flat on her back across half of the couch. “Yeah, but in my defense, you kind of deserved it. You wanted me to try sugar-free ice cream, that is an abomination, my friend.”

“It’s not that bad,” Tom says, tossing a throw pillow at Zendaya’s head. “You wouldn’t even try it.”

“And I won’t, because that fake sugar crap is gross,” Zendaya says. She sits up and tosses the pillow onto the floor. “What did your manager say about all of this at lunch? She was pretty quiet in the room.”

Tom rolls his eyes. “She thinks it’s a brilliant idea. You’ve just had a buzzy movie come out, people seemed to like the pair of us on the last press tour. All of that,” Tom says. “What about yours?”

Zendaya waves a hand at the thought. “Please, she was all over this whole thing. The only concern she has is that I don’t do anything that makes me uncomfortable. Beyond that, she’s ready to stop short of announcing our engagement.”

“That’s a little ridiculous.”

“Your face is a little ridiculous,” Zendaya says, without thinking. Then, at his raised eyebrow, she says, “Okay, fair. She was pretty hesitant about telling me the idea in the first place, but now she’s weirdly gung-ho about it.”

Tom frowns. “Do you think she was just holding back in case you said no? And now she’s all in. Because I have my suspicions about mine.”

“I bet they talked about it before we went in there,” Zendaya says. “It would be very Margie to have a contingency plan in case I flipped out and said no.”

“Probably,” Tom says with a shrug. “So should we set ground rules? A game plan of some sort?”

“We should,” Zendaya says. “First rule, we shouldn’t do anything we wouldn’t do anyway.”

Tom nods. “Agreed. Second rule, we shouldn’t lie to our families. I’d rather my mom know what we’re doing than have her start asking me when she’s going to meet my girlfriend.”

“Did she do that the last time?” Zendaya asks. She got a few questions from her brothers during the last press tour, but they only made fun of her for a few days when she explained the situation. 

“Yeah, she did. She still doesn’t 100 percent believe we didn’t have some kind of torrid affair, honestly,” Tom says, going a tiny bit red as he says affair. 

Zendaya raises an eyebrow. “I really gotta hang out with your mom sometime, she sounds like my kind of lady.”

“That makes her sound like your kind of lady?” Tom asks, sounding doubtful. 

“It’s funny!” Zendaya says, laughing. “Besides, can you imagine what she’d say if she knew about the thing that time?”

“I thought we weren’t talking about that,” Tom asks, voice quiet. 

“We’re not, which is why I’m being vague and changing the subject,” Zendaya says, rolling her eyes. They were not talking about the thing that happened at the end of the last press tour because there was nothing to talk about. “Let’s get back to rules. We can wrap this up and be ready to hang out publicly before we start shooting.”

Tom gives her a long look, and Zendaya looks back, not backing down, because they are not talking about it. “Alright, let’s wrap up,” Tom says, looking down and letting Zendaya win.

*  
Zendaya gets an email from Margie the night before the table read titled "plan to hang out in public," with a note that she needs to make plans with Tom and they need to be seen. 

“Ugh,” Zendaya says glaring at the phone. She responds quickly, _I’ll handle it_ , and then texts Tom, _hope you like cheese fries_ and nothing else. 

She turns off her phone to avoid any response and heads to bed. She’s up early the next morning, ready for the car that’s due to pick her up at 11 am for the table read. 

It’s a short drive into the studio backlot, and another half hour of hugs for all of the people back from _Homecoming_ and raiding the pile of mini danishes set out for everyone. 

Zendaya’s just settled in with her second apple danish when Tom plops down in the seat next to her. 

“So what’s all this about cheese fries?” Tom asks, stealing the last mini lemon poppy muffin off Zendaya’s plate. 

She glares at him, pulling the plate closer to her and curling an arm around it protectively. “There is an entire pastry spread over there,” Zendaya says, around a bite of danish. 

“You know as well as I do that the lemon muffins go first,” Tom says before he pops the muffin in his mouth. “And they’re my favorite. Which all of you know, and you still never leave me any.”

“I know you got here first, next time hoard some before you start talking about the script,” Zendaya says looking down at her sadly lemon muffin-free plate. “You did this to yourself.”

Tom snorts and says, “Sure I did. So, cheese fries?”

“Right, did you not get an email from your manager about our pressing need to hang out in public?”

“I did,” Tom says, slowly. “But she didn’t say it had to be today, just that we should start scheduling things soon.”

“Mine implied that the studio wants us to start sooner rather than later,” Zendaya says with a shrug. She’s not surprised that Margie made things sound more pressing than Tom’s manager, Margie doesn’t mess around when it comes to kind-of-press. “Going to get cheese fries after we’re done here is low stress, low pressure and it’s not like it’s something we wouldn’t do, so." She shrugs again.

Tom nods. “It does make sense. And if this goes as long as my last table read, I’m going to be ravenous at the end.”

“Was the Infinity War one really bad?” Zendaya asks. She’s pretty sure he hasn’t done anything else too ridiculous between Marvel projects. Her last regular read took three hours, but she’s learned that these big action things can be endless. 

Tom groans and nods. “It was six hours, and we should never speak of it again.”

Zendaya laughs hard enough to snort and looks up in time to see Tom laughing with her. 

They keep laughing, mumbling, “we’re never getting out of here,” and “we live here now,” back and forth before dissolving back into giggles again. 

“We have to stop,” Zendaya says, gasping for breath on another giggle. 

“That’s what she said,” Tom says, and they are back at it, laughing again. 

Zendaya slaps his arm and says, “Seriously, seriously, we need to get ourselves under control. We’re going to start soon.”

And she’s right. It’s not a minute later that the director gets on the megaphone and calls everyone to the table to get started. 

*

The table read wraps up after nearly four hours, it’s the first Zendaya has seen of the script, and she’s surprised at the sheer increase in her role in the sequel. She’d known based on her fee, the initial plan when she signed on, and the increased shooting schedule that it would be a larger part, but she’s still pleasantly surprised. 

Tom leans back in the chair next to her and raises an eyebrow. “I was promised cheese fries,” Tom says, smirking at her. 

“Wait, was I supposed to be treating to these cheese fries?” Zendaya says. “I don’t think I agreed to that.”

Tom shrugs. “I don’t make the rules. You invited me, you pay.”

“That seems like a bum deal, kid,” Zendaya says, crossing her arms over her chest. “I think you pay your own way.”

Tom turns to face her and mirrors her stance, arms folded across his chest. “You do know I’m older than you, right?”

“Oh, three months, big deal. Don’t change the subject.”

Tom frowns and says, “Maybe we need an outside opinion.”

Zendaya thinks about it for a second and then nods. “I can deal with that,” she says. “Who are you thinking?”

“Jacob,” Tom says without hesitation. 

Zendaya laughs. “That is not an impartial outside opinion and you know it.”

“Says you, Jacob is perfectly impartial,” Tom says, and then he yells for Jacob to stop over with them before he leaves. 

Jacob walks over a few moments later and looks between Tom and Zendaya with a frown before smiling and saying, “You called, children?”

“I’m literally 5 days older than you,” Tom says, glaring at him. 

Jacob shrugs and says, “And yet, here you are having a staring contest like a couple of little kids.”

“This is serious business, Jacob,” Zendaya says. “There is money at stake here.”

Jacob holds up his hands in defeat. “Okay,” he says, not sounding like he’s taking them remotely seriously. “So what exactly do you want? Why am I in the middle of this serious money conversation?”

“Right,” Tom says. “So if a person asks another person to get cheese fries with them, wouldn’t they be expected to pay? Isn’t that a reasonable expectation?”

“What,” Jacob says, looking from Tom to Zendaya in confusion. “Like a date?”

“No,” Zendaya says. “Like a friends who have been at a table read for four hours and are desperately in need of food thing. Clearly, you’d go dutch, right? Right?”

Tom snorts. “That’s ridiculous, the person who asked pays. That’s just math.”

“So let me get this straight,” Jacob says. “You two dummies are fighting over who should have to pay for your,” he stops to make air quotes, “not-date to get cheesy fries because, I don’t know, you like arguing over dumb, inconsequential stuff.” 

“That’s way harsh, Tai,” Zendaya says, glaring at him. She looks over at Tom and raises an eyebrow. This was his terrible idea, and she isn’t letting him forget getting them into this with Jacob.

Jacob sighs. “Am I wrong?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Tom says. “Do you have an answer? We agreed to follow your advice.”

“When did we agree to this?” Zendaya asks.

“Just now, when we told him this dumb disagreement and sat here and let him insult us.”

“Okay, fair. Carry on,” Zendaya says, nodding and looking back to Jacob. 

“Right,” Jacob says, clapping his hands. “Even though I’m sure this is not a date, or whatever lie you need to tell yourselves, the person who asked has to pay.”

“Dude,” Zendaya says, affronted.

Jacob shrugs. “I don’t make the rules, friend. You gotta pay up.”

“Ugh fine,” Zendaya says. She unfolds her arms and stands up, grabbing her bag. “Get your stuff, Holland, I guess I’m buying you cheese fries.”

*  
They get the cheese fries and end up on some tabloid site, because Zendaya refuses to pay for two milkshakes, so they end up getting two spoons and passing one back and forth. 

After, she gets a text from Margie that’s just twelve thumbs up emojis. 

Over the next few weeks, as they start preparing to shoot, they’re papped out getting Pinkberry and coffee, and once, when they’ve spent a day in wardrobe only to get out into horrible heat and humidity, a water balloon fight with Jacob and Laura. 

The PR people are thrilled. And it’s fun. Zendaya doesn’t want to think about how much fun it is to hang out with Tom just because. The gossip sites don’t get pictures of the afternoons they spend watching whichever 80’s movie is on TBS or their sad attempts at making cupcakes from scratch, but it’s just - nice. 

And it stays nice, until Zendaya gets a call on a rare day off when she has no plans. She’s been lying in the same spot on the couch for three hours when her phone vibrates on the table in front of her. 

“Hello,” Zendaya says, swiping to accept the call and putting it on speaker without actually looking at who’s calling. 

“Hey girl,” Yara says, voice coming through muffled from where the speaker is on the coffee table. 

Zendaya stretches to grab the phone, face lighting up with a smile as she takes the call off speaker. “Hey yourself!” Zendaya says. “It feels like it’s been years since we talked, what’s up?”

“Nothing much,” Yara says. “We just wrapped up filming on _Grown-ish_ , so I’m back on the _Black-ish_ set for the rest of that season. And you know, just chilling, reading some terrible gossip sites between takes.”

Zendaya laughs. “Somebody really needs to take that crap out of your makeup trailer. It’s rotting your brains.”

“Hey now, sometimes you just need a little silly in your life,” Yara says. “Besides, it’s either that or judge Miles and Marsai’s dance battles, and nothing good comes of that.”

Zendaya pauses to think about that and remembers the crying when she was on set when someone had harshly judged an impromptu dancing competition. It wasn’t pretty. “Very true. Nobody wants to get in the middle of that.”

“Never again,” Yara says, and then her voice changes a little. Zendaya can’t put a name to what it is, but there’s some quality, some inflection that comes in as she says, “So what’s new with you?” 

Zendaya frowns. Yara is usually a straight shooter, but for some reason, she’s immediately suspicious. “Nothing much, we’re still filming the _Spider-Man_ sequel for another few weeks and then I have meetings about a thing I’m potentially producing,” Zendaya says carefully, waiting for whatever Yara is about to drop on her. 

“Cool, cool,” Yara says, not sounding like it was cool at all. “So nothing else new? No big changes you’re just dying to talk about?”

“No,” Zendaya says, drawing it out a bit. “Is there supposed to be some big change I want to talk about?”

Yara huffs. “I cannot believe you.”

“What?” 

“Seriously, this is mean,” Yara says, sounding affronted. 

“Seriously,” Zendaya says, mimicking Yara’s tone. “I have no damn idea what you’re talking about Yara.”

Yara sighs. “So you’re really gonna make me ask you if you’re dating Tom Holland? I really have to play gossip blogger and ask you to comment on all of the pictures of you two together? Girl, come on.”

“Oh for fuck's sake,” Zendaya says, frustrated that this is the big thing Yara is calling her about. “It’s not like that.”

“Dude,” Yara says, voice dripping with skepticism. “Is it not like that the way it was last time?”

“There wasn’t anything going on last time either!” Zendaya says, indignant. 

“Uh, last time you absolutely hooked up with him,” Yara says.

Zendaya sighs. “And yet here you are, bringing it up like it wasn’t a one-time thing that never happened again.”

Yara snorts. “Yeah, because there are absolutely not pictures of Tom leaving your house early in the morning.” Yara pauses, and Zendaya can hear her flipping pages. “And it looks like these were taken on different days.”

“He fell asleep here,” Zendaya says. “This is a whole,” she waves a hand even though Yara can’t see her and says, “PR thing.”

“Sure,” Yara says, not sounding sure at all. 

Zendaya snorts. “I mean it,” she says. “They want to capitalize off of how much people like us together.”

“Okay,” Yara says. “I just think maybe you should think about why people like you together and why you agreed to go along with it. And also that Tom is cute and still totally into you.”

“He’s not,” Zendaya says. “We’re friends, who work together. That’s it.”

Yara snorts. “We both know that’s not true.”

“I’m hanging up on you,” Zendaya says, sighing. 

“I love you too,” Yara says, laughing. “Say hi to Tom for me, later.” And then she hangs up and leaves Zendaya alone with the thought that maybe things have gotten out of her control.

*

Zendaya is sure that Tom is not into her, which is maybe the only thing she’s sure about. They’re getting into the home stretch of shooting, and so far the Marvel PR people have been happy with them hanging out, getting papped, and just generally stepping up their interactions on Twitter. But after her call with Yara, Zendaya is waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

It’s a Wednesday night, which for that week of filming is something like a Friday night, so Zendaya is at home catching up on her Tivo when her phone rings. 

Zendaya taps her phone and groans when she sees Margie’s name. “Hello,” Zendaya says, accepting the call.

“Hey kid,” Margie says. She has that false note of cheerfulness in her voice that Zendaya has learned to dread. 

Zendaya takes a breath and prepares herself for whatever nonsense Margie is about to tell her. “Hey, Margie, what’s up?”

“Nothing much,” Margie says, and Zendaya is sure she’s lying. She never calls just to shoot the shit. “I just wanted to check in with you, see how filming is going and how you’ve been doing with this thing with Tom.”

“We’ve been fine,” Zendaya says, keeping the edge out of her voice. “We’re friends, so it hasn’t been much of a hardship to hang out on our downtime.”

“Great,” Margie says. “That’s really great. I’m glad it hasn’t been too much of a burden yet.”

Zendaya glares at her phone. “What do you mean, yet?” she asks. 

“Just hear me out,” Margie says, sighing. “I just got off a conference call with the Marvel PR folks.”

Zendaya sighs and flops back onto the couch. “Let’s hear it.”

“They’d like you two to do something a little bit more explicit.”

“So what, they want us to simulate a sex act in front of an open window now?” Zendaya asks, voice thick with sarcasm. 

Margie snorts. “You know that’s not what they mean. They want you to go on a real date. Borrow something designer, go to Nobu, the whole deal.”

“Oh, well, that’s an easy one, absolutely not.”

“Zendaya,” Margie says, sighing. 

Zendaya sighs right back. “Margaret. Did you know I went through the contract for this little escapade with my lawyer in detail? Did you know that we made edits prior to signing to ensure that Marvel could not encourage or pressure me to do anything I’m not comfortable with?”

“Of course you did,” Margie says, muttering to herself. “I’ll follow up with the PR people. I’m sure they haven’t talked to the lawyers.” 

“Great,” Zendaya says. “I’m not trying to be difficult, but this is so far outside of what was discussed, it’s insane.”

“I know, kid,” Margie says. “They were looking to capitalize on _tmz_ reports and maybe piggyback on the wrap party. You know how it is.”

“I do,” Zendaya says, even though she doesn’t understand what’s so difficult about respecting the boundaries of a contract they signed. “But they need to maybe review the contract. Point them to the provision that indicates how much they’d need to pay me if I make a stink about them breaching.”

Margie laughs. “Well, maybe I need to review, I’d be happy to get my commission off that payment on breach.”

“I’ll bet you would,” Zendaya says, laughing, because there’s no way Margie would get a commission if she helped them breach that contract. 

“Alright, I’m going to go yell at someone in PR. You call Tom and make sure you’re on the same page.”

Zendaya nods and then says, “Will do.” She’s about to say something else when she hears the doorbell ring. “Actually, I think that might be him at the door, we were supposed to be hanging out and watching a movie tonight.”

“Good,” Margie says. “I’m sure someone has taken a picture of him at your house again, I’ll remind the Marvel folks and text you if there’s any problem. Goodnight.” 

“Night,” Zendaya says, then ends the call. 

Zendaya sits there for a moment, annoyed, until her phone buzzes with a text from Tom. 

_I'm at the door, i know your in there_

She rolls her eyes and walks out to answer the door. “I know you wrote the wrong ‘you’re’ to annoy me,” she says, opening the door and stepping aside to let Tom enter. 

“It’s always a great way to get you to move faster,” Tom says, pausing to hang his jacket up in the hall closet and toe off his shoes. It should be weird that he’s so comfortable in her house, but it’s not, it feels right. “So what are we watching tonight?”

“Oh, it’s gonna be great,” Zendaya says, leading the way into the family room. “It’s a classic!”

Tom frowns and says, “What kind of classic? The last time you said that, we watched _Clueless_.”

“ _Clueless_ is a classic,” Zendaya says with a glare. “Just because something was made within the last thirty years doesn’t make it not a classic.” 

Tom snorts as he plops down on the sectional and kicks his feet up. “I never said that, I’m just not sure how _Clueless_ is a classic.”

Zendaya clutches her chest as she plops down next to him. “Have you ever hurt me more than you have just now?” Zendaya says, voice high with fake shock. 

Tom laughs. “Sure,” he says. “Will you please tell me what we’re watching already?”

“It’s one of the horror classics of the late 90’s,” Zendaya says, waving a hand for emphasis. “It helped usher in a new wave of self-aware horror.”

“Still don’t have any idea what you’re talking about,” Tom says, looking confused. “Horror has never really been my thing.”

“Ugh,” Zendaya says. “You’re killing me, Smalls. And it’s not really horror, more slasher, serial killer.”

Tom shrugs and says, “Sorry, I still have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“ _Scream_ , Thomas, I’m talking about _Scream_.”

Tom scrunches his nose, and Zendaya refuses to think that it’s the cutest damn thing she’s seen in a long while. “Isn’t that the one that’s like a parody of slasher films?”

Zendaya stares at him in horror. She has never in her life met a person who could so easily confuse an actual murder movie like _Scream_ with a parody like _Scary Movie_. “I’m going to do us both a favor and not respond to that. Let’s just start the movie.”

Zendaya turns on the blu-ray player and starts up the movie, settling in next to Tom to start his education. There’s something at the back of her mind that feels like she’s forgotten to do something, but she’ll figure it out later. 

“Is that Drew Barrymore?” Tom asks, squinting at the screen. 

“Yes,” Zendaya says excitedly. “This was part of her late 90’s comeback. It was pretty awesome.”

“Cool,” Tom says, and they go back to paying attention to the movie. 

Zendaya has seen it plenty of times, but it’s been awhile since she’s really sat down and watched it all the way through, and somehow the scares are still enough to make her jump. 

Tom turns to her and raises an eyebrow as Drew Barrymore screams on the TV screen. “Are you okay?” he asks, barely holding back the laugh in his voice. 

“Oh shut up,” Zendaya says, crossing her arms and glaring at him. “I forgot that this movie is actually scary.”

“You picked this movie!” Tom says, gesturing at the TV. “How can you have forgotten that the movie about a psycho killer is actually quite scary?”

Zendaya scoffs and looks away as the boyfriend with no lines gets disemboweled. “I knew it was scary, okay! I just didn’t remember that it was you know, _scary_ scary.” 

“Is this a uniquely American thing? This _scary_ scary thing?” Tom asks, making finger quotes around the first scary. 

“Are you gonna keep being a dick about this?” Zendaya asks. 

Tom shrugs. “Probably,” he says with a laugh. “You’re not usually one to scare easily, so I’ve got to get my kicks where I can.”

Zendaya hits him with one of the many throw pillows on her sofa. “The normal response when you’re watching something with someone and they’re scared is to offer to cuddle or comfort them, or you know, any of those normal things people do.”

Tom rolls his eyes, then lifts his arm and beckons Zendaya closer with a tilt of his head. “Well, come on then,” Tom says, laughing. “Can’t have you shrieking in terror over there by yourself.”

“You’re the worst,” Zendaya says, settling in against Tom’s side. “I don’t know why we’re friends.”

Tom laughs, and Zendaya can feel the rumble of it all along her side, warm and familiar. “It’s because of my hot body and my wicked dance moves.”

“You can work a leotard, this is true.”

“Glad you’re embracing the truth,” Tom says, and then they settle back in to finish watching the movie. 

Zendaya loses track of the plot after a while, and then she’s not thinking of much at all. She’s dozing and warm where she’s pressed up against Tom, and just as she’s about to drift off to sleep, Tom pokes her in the side. 

“Quit it,” Zendaya says, half-assedly slapping at his hand. 

Tom snorts and pokes her again. “You wanted to watch this movie, you need to stay awake.”

“I’m awake,” Zendaya says, not bothering to open her eyes. “I’m just getting comfortable.”

“Oh really? Alright then, so give us a recap of what’s happened in the last 10 minutes?” Tom says, a laugh in his voice, then pokes her again.

Zendaya slaps his hand, and then laughs when Tom hits a ticklish spot. “You’re the worst,” Zendaya says, shifting so Tom doesn’t have such easy access to that spot. “If you don’t stop, I won’t show mercy.”

“Is that a challenge?” Tom says eyebrow raised. “Because I have it on good authority that you are quite ticklish.”

“What authority?”

Tom shrugs and then lunges at Zendaya and finds that stupid spot on her side again as he says, “I don’t like to reveal my sources,” laughing. 

Zendaya laughs, gasping, and says, “Freaking Jacob,” and reaches for the spot on Tom’s neck that Jacob told her about, she did not ask how he knew about it. 

Tom cringes away, laughing, and Zendaya follows him, nearly cackling at getting the upper hand. 

“Not so cocky now, huh?” she says, digging in at that spot again. 

“Okay, okay,” Tom says, nearly wheezing. “I yield, I yield!” 

Zendaya laughs. “I knew you would,” she says, stopping her attack and bracing her hands on Tom’s shoulders. It’s then that she really notices where she is, straddling Tom with her hands pressed against his chest in her nearly dark living room. 

The TV is muted but it’s still playing, throwing flashes of light across them. Tom doesn’t need to hold his hands up near his face to protect his neck, and instead of dropping them down to his sides on the couch, they land on Zendaya’s hips, thumbs brushing along the edge of her t-shirt. 

“I’m about to do something stupid,” Tom says, voice low. He bites his lip, and the look he gives her makes something hot uncurl in Zendaya’s belly. 

“Oh good, me too,” Zendaya says, and then she leans forward and kisses him. He meets her halfway, one hand sliding up under her shirt and the other straight up her arm to cup her neck. Zendaya loses track of time kissing; she focuses on the feel of her hand in his hair, of Tom’s tongue in her mouth, of his fingers where they’ve drifted from the small of her back to the edge of her breast. 

It’s good. It feels like a mistake they were always going to make, but for now, Zendaya is happy to sink into it. They’ll worry about the consequences tomorrow. 

*  
Zendaya wakes up alone with her face pressed into the couch cushions. She squints at the coffee table where her phone is buzzing with her alarm. She reaches for the table, trying not to fall off the couch, and manages to just reach it. 

When she thumbs it on, she sees five missed calls, five texts, and her alarm letting her know the car will be there to pick her up to take her back to the set in an hour. 

She sits up, groaning and disoriented, and hits the button for her voicemail and puts it on speaker as she goes to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. 

It’s just four messages, one from her dad, one from Margie, and two from Tom. Zendaya hesitates for what feels like hours but she knows is probably only a few seconds before clicking on the first message from Tom and hitting play. 

_Hey, it’s Tom. Obviously, you knew that already, sorry. I had an early call time and you know, we’ve all been working so hard I didn’t want to wake you._

Zendaya makes a face at that and pulls out the toothpaste so she can get on with brushing her teeth as Tom rambles on.

_Anyway, we should maybe talk about last night? Or not? Don’t want to make it weird. And we have to talk about the public date thing. My agent says the PR folks are pushing for it, and it doesn’t seem that bad, just showing up for the _Ant-Man 2_ red carpet together. That’s not too bad, right? Alright, I’ve gotta go to makeup. I’ll see you when you get to set probably. Bye. _

“What the hell was that?” Zendaya asks herself out loud around a mouthful of toothpaste. 

She makes a face at herself in the mirror, thinking about the message. She’d forgotten to bring up refusing that public date, and now that Tom’s in and they’re presenting it as just attending a premiere, the pressure for her to be reasonable and go along with it will go up. It’s annoying. 

Zendaya takes a moment to spit and rinse out her mouth, then hits play on the second message as she starts to wash her face.

_Hi, Hi sorry I’m calling back again. It’s uh Tom._

Zendaya rolls her eyes and mumbles, “such a dork,” fondness seeping into her voice, and keeps on with her moisturizing routine. 

_Right so I was thinking and maybe we just shouldn’t talk about it? Right? I mean all of this stuff has been weird, and we’ve been weird and it’s probably less awkward to just act like it didn’t happen right? I was just. Thinking. You know how it gets sometimes in the makeup chair and-_. 

There’s a noise from somewhere away from the phone, and Tom’s voice goes faint for a second. Zendaya stands in her bathroom, hands gripping the counter, and thinks _Right, of course_ , and feels incredibly stupid for thinking that maybe there might be something there. 

Tom’s voice comes back to the phone, loud and clear, and he says _anyway, I have to go but maybe we can talk when you get to set? Or not talk really. Whichever,_ and then the voicemail ends. 

She takes several deep cleansing breaths and tries not to overreact. 

“It’s fine,” Zendaya says out loud as she heads back into her bedroom to change into a pair of leggings and a t-shirt and grab her sneakers. “We’ll just go back to how we were before, wrap this stupid thing up, and be done.”

She keeps up a running mantra in her head that it’s fine. She grabs her bag, slips on her shoes, and steps outside just as her phone vibrates to let her know the car is there. 

It’s fine.

*

It’s not fine. 

The ride to the set is quick, and before Zendaya can really prepare herself to act normal, they’re pulling through the gates and she’s been hustled off to makeup. 

She doesn’t see Tom for hours; mostly she’s on the schedule for pickups and several scenes with Jacob and Laura. It’s getting near the end of the day for her when she finally sees Tom. 

They’ve both got some downtime while the crew sets up for the only night scene that they share, so she can’t even attempt to avoid him. 

“Hey,” Zendaya says, trying to keep her voice cheerful. “You ready to hang upside down for several hours?”

Tom laughs. “Not really,” he says, plopping down next to her like everything is normal. “We’ve been shooting a ton of stunt work today, so I’m already sore.” He knocks his shoulder against hers and says, “So, um. Are we talking about? You know?”

Zendaya turns to look at him and raises an eyebrow. She’s not going to be the one to make this more awkward, she got his message loud and clear. “Talk about what?” Zendaya says. “About the premiere thing? I haven’t coordinated with my people for that yet.”

Tom looks at her for a moment, searching, and Zendaya looks back, not giving an inch. He already made himself clear, and she’s not about to drag things out talking about the many reasons he apparently thinks it was a mistake to kiss her. 

“Right, yeah,” Tom says, nodding slowly. “I should probably talk to mine to make sure all of my stuff is ready too.”

Zendaya shrugs. “Probably,” she says. “I’d told Margie I wasn’t going to do it, so now I have to go eat crow about it. She’s going to be so smug.”

“We don’t have to arrive together if you don’t want to?” Tom says, sounding concerned. “You don’t need to do it if you’re uncomfortable.”

Zendaya laughs. It sounds forced to her own ears, but she hopes it sounds okay to Tom. “Why would I be uncomfortable? I’m going to a premiere with a friend. The media people will assume things, the movie gets some extra press, and mission accomplished.”

“Then why didn’t you want to do it? Initially, I mean?” Tom asks, looking confused.

Zendaya shrugs. “It wasn’t part of our original arrangement. And I’m still going to check with my lawyers about it. They might owe us some money for going above and beyond the original contract terms.”

Tom laughs and bumps her shoulder again, and Zendaya tries, and fails, not to freeze up. “Gucci bag money right?” he says, amusement slowly draining out of his face and voice.

Zendaya sighs. Of course, now he’d notice that things are weird. “Sometimes a girl just needs a new bag, deal with it.” There’s some commotion in front of them, and Zendaya breathes a sigh of relief. They’re finally about to start shooting, and this conversation can end. 

Tom looks up too and says, “Looks like we’re about on.”

“Yup,” Zendaya says. “This is my last scene of the day so I’m ready to be done and on my way out of here.”

“Oh, are you doing anything fun tonight?” Tom asks. 

“Nope.” 

“Cool,” he says, nodding and looking across the lot. They’re both waiting for the signal to take their places on their marks, and now things are dragging along. “Do you want to. Um, should we hang out tonight?”

Zendaya doesn’t try to not make a face. “Rain check? I’m not really up for company tonight.” She doesn’t have any plans on letting that rain check get cashed at any point in the near future. Maybe when she stops feeling like a dumbass. 

Tom nods. “Sure, right, definitely.” 

He looks like he’s about to say something else when they get the shout to take their places. Zendaya breathes a sigh of relief and hops up, ready to get this damn thing done. At least she’s gotten the first awkward day done. She’ll be better the next time. 

*  
Things stay awkward. 

Tom keeps asking about plans for after work, and Zendaya keeps finding somewhere else to be. She’s mostly stopped totally avoiding him on set, mainly because of it being impossible due to the current script, but it’s still weird. And if anyone else on set has noticed, they’re at least being nice enough to not say anything. 

It’s the day before the _Ant-Man and Wasp_ premiere that Zendaya gets the call she’s been dreading from Margie. 

Her phone rings as she’s getting in the car leaving the backlot at the end of the day. She sighs and swipes to accept the call. 

“Hey Margie,” Zendaya says, leaning back in the town car and closing her eyes. “What’s up?”

“Hey kid,” Margie says. “I just wanted to check in with you. I haven’t had any ridiculous calls from Marvel lately or any new pics in my Google alerts. How’s it going?”

Zendaya rolls her eyes. Of course, Margie would notice she was seeing less of Tom. “Things are going well. I only have a week or so left on my shooting schedule, plus the premiere tomorrow, and then a glorious week off. Things are good.”

“And you’re still getting along with Tom?” Margie asks. “I know you weren’t the biggest fan of this idea, but it seemed like it was going well.”

Zendaya sighs. “We’re fine. I just needed some space. You won’t even notice on the red carpet tomorrow night.”

“Okay,” Margie says, not sounding convinced. “Just remember, once you’re done shooting, you’ll be out of town within the week, so you should have even more of a break.”

“I remember, it’ll be fine.”

“Good,” Margie says. “Have fun tomorrow.”

Zendaya snorts. “I’ll have as much fun as I can at a work event. Bye,” Zendaya says before hanging up. 

She goes to bed early, for her at least, and wakes up before ten to get coffee and shower before her beauty team shows up to get her ready for the red carpet. They show up early, and Zendaya gets ready to spend several hours getting her hair and makeup done while her stylist preps dress options. 

“What are we thinking about for the look tonight, Z?” Law asks, shifting through the rack that’s been rolled into the living room.

Zendaya hmms. “I don’t know. I’m not up for anything too complicated tonight.”

“So we’re thinking easy, breezy, won’t need help peeing or getting undressed when you get home vibe?”

“Exactly.”

Law makes a thoughtful noise and then flips through several items on the rack before pulling out a purple printed dress with scoop neck and full skirt. “How about this? It’s got a retro vibe, but it won’t wrinkle, and you should be able to get out of it on your own.” 

Zendaya takes the hanger as he hands it to her and holds it up, inspecting it from several angles. “Ooh, it has pockets. This is perfect. What are we thinking about for the hair?”

“I think we pull it back into a high pony but leave it extra curly,” he says, looking at the damp curls that Zendaya is rocking. “How high of a heel are we thinking for tonight?”

“I’m walking the carpet with Tom,” Zendaya says, trying not to make a face at her own lingering stupidity. “But I’m not in the mood to be nice.”

Law laughs. “So very high then? Love it. Glad to help you be passive-aggressive, love.”

“It’s not passive-aggressive,” Zendaya says with a shrug. “I can’t help it that I’m tall.”

“Sure, let’s make you picture-perfect,” Law says, laughing again. And then the team gets to work. 

*  
The hair and makeup team take a few hours to get her head styling just right, and it’s both too long and too fast. Before she can really think too hard about it, they’re setting her makeup and shuffling her off to the next room to get dressed. 

She’s being zipped into her dress when the doorbell rings. Zendaya ignores it and lets Law and his assistant finish getting her into the dress and into shoes that are not nearly as tall as she’d like.

“Perfection,” Law says, tipping Zendaya’s chin from side to side. 

Zendaya rolls her eyes as he turns her toward the mirror. She makes a face and nods. “Not bad, not bad at all.”

Law tsks. “Don’t act surprised, you know my work.”

“I do. It looks fabulous,” Zendaya says, turning and smiling at Law. “I’d be lost without you.”

Law laughs, “I know it.” 

One of the assistants pokes her head in as he’s laughing and says, “Hey, Tom and the car are here.”

“Alright, I’ll be right out,” Zendaya says, grabbing her bag and exchanging cheek kisses with Law as she heads for the door. 

“Have fun,” Law says, adding something to the rack. “We’ll clean up and lock up before we go. The courier will be over to pick up things in a few days.”

Zendaya waves and heads out to the living room, stopping when she almost runs into Tom. She frowns at the look on his face. “What?” Zendaya says, eyeing him warily. 

“Nothing,” Tom says, not looking like it’s nothing. “You just look really nice.”

“Thanks,” Zendaya says, drawing it out and not really believing him. She squares her shoulders, tries to get over herself, and smiles. “Ready to go?”

“Yup!” Tom says, smiling back and gesturing for her to go ahead of him. And then they’re off.

They’re quiet for most of the ride to the venue. It’s like they’ve forgotten how to be friends, so Zendaya is counting down the minutes playing Sudoku on her phone as they speed and then inch in LA traffic. It’s way too long before the car stops and Tom looks over at her. 

“You ready?” Tom asks, hand on the door handle.

Zendaya snorts. She already knows this is going to be a circus. “As ready as I ever am,” she says. “Let’s do it.”

Tom opens his door and steps out, and Zendaya can briefly hear the noise of the crowds and photographers at full volume. She waits for a minute as the driver opens her door, and then she’s handed out of the other side of the car and meets Tom as she adjusts her dress.

The press line is insane. Tom's hand falls to the small of her back as they head over to the step and repeat, and it’s honestly the loudest Zendaya’s ever heard photographers get. They pose, and she ignores all of the dumb questions the photographers yell at them, grateful that this is a premiere where they are just supporting another Marvel property and not required to talk to any of these people about anything but the next _Spiderman_ and their excitement to watch _Ant-Man and Wasp_. 

It takes a while to make it down the line of photographers, but soon enough their publicists seem to melt out of the crowd and start pointing them to the outlets they’ve been asked to split. It’s another half an hour before they’re done with the press and on their way into the theater. 

“God, that was ridiculous,” Zendaya says, taking the arm Tom offers as they head in. “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad last time.”

Tom laughs. “If you had come to the _Infinity War_ premiere, you wouldn’t think this was that bad.”

“Suddenly I’m very glad I was in Italy that week,” Zendaya says, laughing as they take their seats in the theater and settle in.

Zendaya doesn’t really pay attention to the movie. She’s tired and hungry and pretty much just zones out eating popcorn while it barely registers in her head. It’s over sooner than she expects, and then they’re up and on their way out. 

“God, I’m hungry,” Zendaya says, following Tom out to the lineup of cars waiting to take people to the after party. “Is it cool if I ditch the after party and go home?”

Tom nods. “Yeah, that’s cool. I don’t think we actually promised to show up,” Tom says, smiling. “What if we go for an In-N-Out run?” he asks as they stop to wait for their car. 

Zendaya almost says no, thinking of how awkward things have been. But she’s never been a coward, and she’s not going to lose a friend just because a boy doesn’t like her. He doesn’t owe her anything.

Zendaya smiles. “Sure,” she says, bumping his shoulder. “We haven’t hung out in forever, it’ll be fun.” And maybe this can be the first step toward them getting back to the way they were before, back to normal. 

“Awesome,” Tom says, smiling back. 

*  
The driver drops them off at Tom’s rental, and they hop in his car and head back out to eat, not bothering to pause and put on something comfortable. Zendaya knows she’s going to regret it soon, but if she goes back home and takes off her bra, she’s not leaving the house again, and they need this. They’re both making the effort to be normal, and she’s not going to let a little foot ache screw that up. 

Traffic is still terrible, but they make it to In-N-Out within the half hour, so it’s not completely awful. It’s nearly midnight on a weekday, so there’s not much of a line inside and they’re able to get in and get their food quickly, even if they do have an argument on who has to pay. 

“I still think you should have paid,” Tom says, as they make their way back to his car. 

Zendaya scoffs. “It wasn’t my idea to come here. I would have just gone home and had a Hot Pocket or something. I shouldn’t have to pay.”

“You were hungry!” Tom says, laughing. 

“So were you,” Zendaya says, pointing at him as they make it to the car. “You can’t put this all on me. 

Tom scoffs as he sinks into the driver's seat. “I’m always hungry,” he says, starting the car. “This diet is endless and awful.”

“It’s a tough break, kid,” Zendaya says. She pulls a fry out of her bag - all she got was two orders of fries and a chocolate milkshake - and pops the top off her milkshake to dip it in before taking a bite. “That really sucks for you,” she says around a mouth full of hot and salty deliciousness. “I’m sure that protein thing with no bread is going to be great.”

Tom glares but doesn’t say anything, pulling out and heading toward the highway and Zendaya’s house. Zendaya flicks on the radio and sits back and closes her eyes. It’s been a long, exhausting day, and she’s still in shoes that have started to pinch and a bra that is officially on her shit list. 

She must fall asleep, because before she knows it, the music is turning off and Tom is shaking her arm. “Ugh, sorry,” Zendaya says, rolling her neck and shifting up from where she’s slouched against the car door. “I swear I didn’t plan to fall asleep.”

“It’s fine,” Tom says. “I stole some of your fries while you weren’t paying attention.”

Zendaya snorts, grabbing her milkshake and bag of fries and getting out of the car. “You’re the worst, Holland,” she says, digging her keys out of her bag. 

Tom follows her into the house, laughing. “If by worst, you mean best, then I agree,” he says. 

Zendaya kicks off her heels as soon as she steps through the door and points Tom toward the living room as she drops her bags and milkshake on the hall table. “I need to be wearing sweatpants immediately, but make yourself comfortable, you remember where things are, right?”

“I do,” Tom says, making a face as he toes out of his shoes and slips off his jacket. “Hopefully your water pitcher is actually full tonight,” he says, mumbling as he heads for the kitchen. 

Zendaya rolls her eyes and heads on to her room. She tucks a hand towel in the collar of the dress and gets most of her makeup off before pulling a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt out to change. 

“Damn it,” Zendaya mutters, trying and failing to reach the zipper on the back of her dress. She rolls her eyes at herself for not paying attention to how high they zipped when she was getting dressed. She heads back out to the living room, mumbling about it. 

“Thomas,” Zendaya says, stepping up behind the couch and leaning over it, closer to where Tom is sitting on the floor next to the coffee table. “Need some help over here.”

Tom looks up from his sad lettuce-wrapped burger and raises an eyebrow. “With what?”

Zendaya straightens up and turns around. “Turns out I’m not actually flexible enough for this zipper,” she says. “Can you help me out? I’ve got a pair of leggings calling my name.”

“Yeah, sure,” Tom says, and Zendaya hears him getting up. 

Zendaya keeps her back turned so she doesn’t see him approach, but she feels when he gets close. It feels like the room has shrunk, like they’re in a tiny closet of a room instead of her sprawling living room. 

Tom brushes her ponytail out of the way, fingers sliding across her neck, and says, “You have a ridiculous amount of hair you know.”

“It’s where I keep my secrets,” Zendaya says, trying for a joke and failing in the quiet, claustrophobic mood they’ve fallen into. 

Tom laughs, breath brushing along Zendaya’s neck. “It probably is,” he says, finally unzipping her dress. “Maybe if you take it down, you can let one of those secrets out. Like why you’ve been avoiding me.”

“I haven’t,” Zendaya says, voice quiet and silently willing Tom to believe the lie and let it go. 

“Daya, come on,” Tom says, fingers brushing along Zendaya’s back. “You’ve barely said ten words to me in days. Even when you’re mad at me you still send me poop emojis.”

Zendaya looks over her shoulder at Tom and tries to smile. “You usually deserve the poop emojis.”

Tom laughs. “I do. It’s the semi-silent treatment that freaks me out.”

Zendaya sighs, pressing her palms into her eyes, and then drops her hands, turning. “Come on, you know why.”

“If I knew why, I wouldn’t be asking right now,” Tom says, looking confused and a little hurt. “You know me, I’m not just bringing it up to annoy you.”

Zendaya rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, starting to get angry. “You literally left me a voicemail saying kissing me was a mistake. You don’t remember that? Like, you could at least reject me to my face.”

Tom’s face seems to run through several different emotions before he stops and glares. “I thought that’s what you’d want, it’s what you wanted last time,” he says, almost yelling. 

“Thanks so much for telling me what I want,” Zendaya says, sneering. 

Tom throws his hands up and yells, “Well then tell me what you do want? Since this time is so different.”

“I wanted you, jackass,” Zendaya says without thinking as she glares at him. She looks at the stunned look on his face, and her eyes go wide as she realizes what she’s said.

Tom looks stunned for a second and says, “Oh.” He smiles that big goofy smile that seems to bubble up onto his face without warning. “I wanted you too,” Tom says, taking a step closer to her and grabbing her hand. “So much.”

Zendaya goes still, all of her senses narrowed to the hand holding hers and her heart racing in her chest. “Don’t just say that to make me feel better,” Zendaya says. She feels like a laugh is about to bubble up out of her throat

Tom laughs, sliding a hand up her arm and stopping at her neck, brushing his thumb along that stupid overly sensitive spot under her ear. “When have I ever said anything to make you feel better?” Tom asks, raising an eyebrow.

“True,” Zendaya says with a laugh. “You _are_ kind of a dick sometimes.” 

“Hey!” Tom says, indignant, and then Zendaya kisses him. It’s sweet at first, a brief brush of their lips before Tom’s hand at her neck tightens a little and he deepens the kiss. It’s the best not-first kiss she’s had in forever. 

Zendaya pulls away after a while - she can’t really tell how much time has passed - to breathe, and rests her forehead against Tom's.

“So does this mean you’re my girlfriend for real now?” Tom asks, breath warm against her lips, thumb brushing some pattern she can’t identify across her neck. 

“Oh my god,” Zendaya says, laughing. “Why are you like this?”

“It’s a valid question,” Tom says. “And it will absolutely baffle those Marvel people. You know you want to date me, no take backs!” 

Zendaya laughs and says, “God, fine, but I’m not putting anything up on Facebook.”

“I can live with that.”

“Good,” Zendaya says firmly, feeling happier than she’s felt in weeks. And it is good.

THE END


End file.
